A Study in Ebony
by Megafighter3
Summary: Jennifer Willoughby is a fledgling healer who works in the Janus Thickey Ward. For her first assignment, she has been given a very curious case... A re-imaging of the infamous fanfic My Immortal.
1. My Immortal

Jennifer stepped off the lift into the Janus Thickey Ward, walking her way down the hall; occasionally stopping to retie her ponytail before picking up her things and continuing her walk. She met up with Miriam Strout at the door to the cell where her patient was. Jennifer politely bowed to her boss.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Strout."

"Ah, Ms. Willoughby. Good to see you... why the streaks in your hair?"

"Oh, these?" Jennifer asked, grabbing one of the pink highlights in her jet black hair. "Well, you see, I happen to be a fan of the Hart family, and... say. Don't I have a patient to work with?"

"A patie- oh! Right! I almost forgot! Here you are, Ms. Willoughby. The information on your patient. Take a few minutes before entering to look them over."

Jennifer nodded, taking the clipboard in her hand and taking a look.

Name: Tara Gilesbie

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Affliction: Insanity caused by Cruciatus Curse.

"The Cruciatus Curse? At only 17?" Jennifer asked, curious.

"Oh no, much younger. Right around the tail end of the Second Wizarding War," Strout corrected, carrying a sadness in her voice. "Tara was... a Snakelet."

"Snakelet?"

"Wizard-borns who were captured by Death Eaters, with the intention to raise them under the teachings of Lord Voldemort. Tara was only 9 when she was left in the care of a particularly deranged Death Eater, who preferred to punish her for various slights, real or imagined."

"...He's not alive, is he?"

"Oh, heavens no. He was executed in 2003. But Tara hasn't recovered. Her friends and family back home in America haven't been able to visit... and some of them might be a bit hesitant with her continuing mental decay, but they have been sending gifts. She's on a bit of a schedule. It should be on your notes."

Jennifer nodded, looking over the schedule. "My Chemical Romance every two hours... leave the posters on the wall... understood."

"Good," Strout responded, unlocking the door. "Please make sure to stay behind the bars, dear."

"Yes, Ms. Strout."

Jennifer continued her way down the hall, seeing a girl sitting in the middle of the room; headphones hidden amongst a mess of charcoal black hair with purple streaks and red tips. Jennifer wasn't sure how they made sure the headphones and the source of the music work in here, but somehow they did. She hazard a guessed that someone was able to enchant the two items so the girl could listen to her music in St. Mungo's.

Jennifer continued to look at the girl; as her ice-blue eyes stared into the distance, not yet noticing the intruder. Her skin was sheet white and her arms and legs were covered in scratches. Or at least the parts that weren't covered by her clothing St. Mungo's provided it's patients to wear. She had dark circles under her eyes, a product of her insomnia.

Jennifer nervously cleared her throat. "...Tara?"

The girl looked up, shutting off the music. "Ebony."

"...Beg pardon?"

"My name is Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way."

"...Ebony, I'm Jennifer Willoughby. I'm here to help you.

"Help me with what? I already graduated Hogwarts this year."

Jennifer, seeing the marks, took a step back and nodded. "Yes... anyway, so this was your last year at Hogwarts? Why don't you tell me about it?" She needed to lull Tara into a false sense of security, so that she could work safely and not be attacked during it.

"Okay..."

"What was it like on your first day? ...What were you wearing?"

"Well, I was wearing a black corset with matching lace around it and a black leather miniskirt, pink fishnets and black combat boots. I was also wearing black lipstick, white foundation, black eyeliner and red eye shadow."

"...Okay, anything that happened that day?"

"A couple of preps stared at me. I gave them the middle finger."

"What was the weather like?"

"It was snowy and rainy at the same time."

"Sleet?"

"Yeah, that."

"Anything else happen?"

"Well, while I was walking, Draco Malfoy called me over. We talked for a bit and my friend called me over."

Jennifer paused a bit and jotted that down, making a mental note to contact Malfoy at some point. "So, tell me about this friend. What's her name?"

Ebony took a while to to answer "...Willow."

"Can you describe Willow?"

"She had long waist-length raven black hair with pink streaks and opened her forest-green eyes. She was waring Marilyn Manson t-shirt with a black mini, fishnets and pointy high-heeled boots. Her make-up that she was wearing was black lipstick, white foundation and black eyeliner."

Jennifer's own forest-green eyes widened and she quickly wrote that down that she was becoming part of Tara's fantasy Hogwarts. If this wasn't already a curious case, it had become one now. She pressed on with her interview "So what happened then?"

"Well, we talked for a bit, Willow teasing me about liking Draco before Draco came up and invited us to a Good Charlotte concert in Hogsmeade."

Jennifer wrote down Good Charlotte as something to look up later. "So how was the concert?"

"Oh, it was awesome. I put on my black lace-up boots with high heels. Underneath them were ripped red fishnets. Then I put on a black leather minidress with all this corset stuff on the back and front. I put on matching fishnet on my arms. I straightened my hair and made it look all spiky. I felt a little depressed then, so I slit one of my wrists. I read a depressing book while I waited for it to stop bleeding and I listened to some GC. I painted my nails black and put on TONS of black eyeliner. Then I put on some black lipstick. I didn't put on foundation because I was pale anyway."

Jennifer quickly wrote down the notes as "Ebony" described her attire and started talking about Draco's black Mercedes-Benz; at which point Jennifer quickly struck the idea of Tara knowing Draco from her mind. The Malfoy family's hatred of Muggles was well known. So him having a Muggle car, enchanted or not, was patently absurd.

Tara talked about the concert for a while, while Jennifer noticed a poster of the band on the wall of the cell. She figured that they were a Muggle band, so the chances of them touring Hogsmeade were out of the question. Whatever Tara's friends were sending was affecting her mental state.

"Draco and I crawled back into the Mercedes-Benz, but Draco didn't drive us back to Hogwarts, but drove us to the Forbidden Forest."

"...Oh dear, what happened then?"

"Well, we... uh..."

"Go on, Ebony..."

"We had sex in the forest..."

Jennifer blushed, hiding under her clipboard. At this point, her notes were part psychoanalysis and part writing down the inconsistencies of her story, going into a forest full of various dangerous animals and the Centaurs that made the forest their home and having sex. Either endangering themselves to become Acromantula food or offending the Centaurs, and burning bridges between them and Hogwarts. "...So what happened after that?"

"Well, Dumbledore found us and dragged us back to his office. He, McGonagall and Snape were furious at us but we got off light and went to bed."

"And what happened the next day?"

"Well, I met Vampire Potter."

"...Vampire Potter?"

"Yeah, he goes by Vampire because he likes the taste of human blood. He's not a real vampire like me."

Jennifer was writing this down, at this point not trying to connect this with reality.

"Draco pulled me away and we had sex again; and that's when I saw the tattoo on his arm."

"Tattoo?"

"It was a black heart with an arrow through it. On it in bloody gothic writing, was the name Vampire."

"..So they had a relationship before he met you."

"Mhm. I got really pissed and ran to Potions class to yell at Vampire. Draco chased after me. The class stared at us because we were naked."

Jennifer turned red once more "You... you were naked in the middle of the classroom..."

"Yeah! I was so angry I didn't have time to put on my clothes."

"And Draco?"

"He was trying to stop me."

"So... how did the argument end?"

"Well, I ran off crying to the Forbidden Forest where I ran into Voldemort."

"...And what did Voldemort do?"

"He put me in the Imperious Curse and then... I used Cruciatus on him..." Tara went into a trance like she had been in when Jennifer came in.

"Ebony... Ebony? Ebony!"

"Wha- What? Oh, sorry. I kind of lost my train of thought.

"Well, I think we should end our session there. I feel like I learned a lot."

"Okay, Jen."

"See you tomorrow, Ebony." Jennifer said, walking out of the room. There seemed to be a trigger for Tara that they hit while talking. Hopefully, this would be a stepping stone to recovery for her.


	2. Bring Me To Life

Jennifer returned to the room the next day, having gathered previously that mention of the Cruciatus Curse was a trigger for Tara. Hopefully there'd be another breakthrough during this session. Ebony sat in the center of the cell, in a trance whilst listening to various Muggle bands on her enchanted CD player. Like the day before, she didn't notice Jennifer entering the room.

"Ebony..."

Tara looked up. "Oh, hey Jennifer. What's up?"

"Well, I was hoping we could continue where we left off. What happened after Voldemort... tortured you?" Jennifer asked, careful not to mention the curse by name.

"He ordered me to kill Vampire, and if I didn't, he would kill Draco. And then he flew away and Draco came to bring me back to Hogwarts."

"Did you tell him about Voldermort's demand?"

"No, not until while I was rehearsing with my band."

"You had a band?"

"Yeah. Bloody Gothic Rose 666. It had me on lead guitar and vocals, Draco on bass, Vampire on keyboard, Diabolo on drums, B'loody Mary played the tambourine, and Hargrid was our roadie."

"...Vampire was a part of your band before you met him?"

"Yeah, so?"

"But, Ebony, that doesn't make sense!"

"Of course it does! We knew each before that!"

"But you said that this was the first year you knew about Harry!"

"He was in the band before I was!"

"But it's your band!" Jennifer counterd.

Tara lept at the bars, ready to claw Jennifer's eyes out. While Jennifer backed herself to wall as Tara screamed about her being a "prep bitch." After a good half hour, Tara returned to the center of the cell, putting on her headset.

"...Anyway, who's Bloody Mary?"

"No no! It's B'loody Mary! You gotta pronounce the apostrophe. BUH-loody Mary!"

"...Okay, who is... B'loody Mary?" Jennifered asked her question again, making sure to add in the correction.

"Oh, she went by Hermione Granger. She had long waist-length gothic black hair and crimson eyes like blood because she wore color contacts. She had pale white skin because she wears white make-up. Hermione was kidnapped when she was born. Her real parents are vampires and one of them is a witch but Voldemort killed her mother and her father committed suicide because he was depressed about it. She still has nightmares about it and she is very haunted and depressed. It also turns out her real last name is Smith and not Granger."

"...And Diablo?"

"Diabolo."

"Yes, and he is..."

"Ron Weasley. He has black hair with blue streaks in it."

"...And I assume Hagrid-"

"Hargrid."

"Is the same person..."

"No, he's that kid that Vampire fought in the Triwizard Tournament. The one that looks like Edward Cullen."

"Cedric Diggory."

"Yeah, him."

"...So, what happened when Draco found out?"

"He called me a poser muggle bitch and ran off crying. Then Dumbledore came and told me that he had committed suicide by slitting his wrists."

"...Oh dear. You must have been torn up over this."

"I was! I was crying tears of blood and then slit my wrists. The blood got all over my clothes so I went to take a bath, when I got out to get dressed, Snap and Loopin were sitting outside my window on broomsticks. Snap was taping me while Loopin was masticating to it!"

"You mean mas- yeah, that." Jennifer said, not even wanting to correct her on that.

"Vampire ran in while I shot at them with my gun and then Dumbldore came in and then Hargrid ran in and... and..."

"Ebony?"

"I can't remember it too well because I had fainted due to blood loss, all I remember was Hargrid singing a gothic version of a 50 Cent song."

Jennifer wasn't one for Muggle music, but even she knew that didn't sound right. "So what happened next?"

"Well, I was going to slit my wrists with the sliver knife he gave me in case anything happened to me. He had told me to use it valiantly against an enemy but I knew that we must both go together."

"...That never happened."

"Yes it did!"

Jennifer backed off the subject, having already incurred Tara's wrath before. "So... what happened then?"

"Vampires scar started hurting, returning to its lightning bolt shape. Draco was alive and Voldemort was keeping him prisoner."

"And what happened to Snape and Lupin?"

"They and Hargrid were being sent to St. Mango's-"

"Mungo's"

"Yeah, that. They were being sent there for being pedophiles."

"...Ebony, the age of adulthood under wizarding law is 17. Which is what you were when you started that year. While their actions were reprehensible, it was hardly pedophilia. And... Hargrid was also your age, meaning he couldn't be a pedophile anyway."

"Shut up! They were pedos! Don't defend those child touchers!"

"...So what happened while you were in the hospital?"

"Well, Hargrid walked over to my bed and offered me pink roses. They were awful. I hate pink."

"But you were wearing pink fishnets on your first day."

"No, I wasn't!"

"Ebony, I've been writing this down. And you said that you wore a black corset with matching lace, black leather miniskirt, black combat boots and PINK fishnets!" Jennifer spoke loudly, telling Tara one of the major contradiction in her tale. "You can't keep trying to dictate how this goes and say things didn't happen when they did! That's contradicting yourself!"

Tara jumped for the bars again, screaming like a banshee as Jennifer nearly tripped over her own feet trying to keep her distance from the unstable girl. When the screaming stopped, Tara stood there, breathing heavily with her hair covering her face. Her eyes peeked through, staring ice daggers into Jennifer's soul.

"I... I think we should end this session early. I'll come back when you've calmed down... okay Ebony?"

Tara let out a low growl in response. Jennifer took that as a yes and ran off. Not wanting to push more of Tara's buttons then she already had.


	3. House of Wolves

Jennifer opened the door to the cell, fearful for her life as she walked in. She saw Tara sitting in her trance. "E...Ebony?"

Tara stared up, calm but still furious over the night before. "Hey... bitch."

Jennifer took that instead of trying to fight back. "So... let's see if we can continue where we left off..."

"Well... Vampire's scar started hurting, returning to it's lightning bolt shape. Draco was alive and Voldemort was keeping him prisoner."

"You already told-" Jennifer started before silencing herself, noticing Tara's gaze. "Nevermind. What happened then?"

"We turned to Dumbledore, but refused to help us so Harry and I teleported-"

"Apparated.

"Yeah, that. We apparated to Voldermort's lair where we found Snaketail torturing Draco."

"Snaketail..."

"Peter Pedophile."

"Pettigrew.

"Yeah, him. So I shot him with a gun and then he asked me to have sex with him, but I wasn't gonna have sex with some freak who was torturing my boyfriend. So I stabbed him in the heart and then he died."

"...Right," Jennifer said, continuing her note taking.

"Then me and Draco had an argument and made up afterwards. Then there was a My Chemical Romance concert in Hogsmeade. During the concert, Voldemort and the Death Dealers-"

"Death Eaters."

Jennifer expected Tara to go in one of her trances upon hearing that name, like she did with the mention of the Cruciatus Curse in her first session. However, Tara surprised Jennifer, although Jennifer didn't show it much, by continuing to tell her tale.

"Yeah, them. They attacked. I didn't want to go to the concert after what happened last time."

"When you and Draco..."

"Yeah, that. After a few words, I agreed to go, then I met up with B'loody Mary. She told me that Willow got expelled for failing and skipping classes. So she killed Willow and left her corpse for Lupin."

Jennifer gulped. If it wasn't obvious that she was out of Tara's good side, it was now. "W...why Lupin?"

"He's a necrophiliac."

"...Right. So did Buuuuh-loody Mary have anything else to say?" Jennifer asked, trying to put the right emphasis on the name.

"Well, she learned about new goth clothes store in Hogsmeade. The guy who ran the shop was so cool, gave us stuff for free for being cool goths."

"That... was generous of him. What was his name?" Jennifer asked. She wanted to point out how that wasn't how economics worked, but she didn't want to light the short fuse on this loose cannon.

"Tom Rid."

"...Tom Riddle?"

"Yeah, him. But he's a totally different guy from Voldemort. Just had the same name."

"Oh..."

"Uh-huh. He asked me out, but then Cedric came in telling me that I needed to head back to Hogwarts. We told him we were busy and he left while Willow came in."

Jennifer would have questioned why Willow was alive, but she took that as a sign that Tara didn't hate her anymore so she didn't want to chance another attack. She listened to Tara ramble about clothes and makeup and how Neville Longbottom was called Dracola (Dracula) until she got back to the Death Eater attack. And like at the first mention of that name, Tara was still talking about it.

"But then Dumbledore came out and scared them off. The next day, the Great Hall was covered in black. Dumbledore had dyed his hair black and wore matching robes. It was embarrassing."

"I know the feeling. My dad once tried to get into wrestling when I was little. He kept cheering the heels and was calling everything a Piledriver!"

Jennifer laughed, stopping once she noticed the blank stare on Tara's face. "Eh heh heh... let's move on, shall we?"

"We shall. Anyway, the concert was postponed due to a Death Eater attack."

Every session, Jennifer heard about five sentences she never thought she'd hear in her life. This was one of the five for today's session.

"Then Snape and Lupin wanted to borrow condoms from me so they could have sex while Dobby watched."

"...So, let me get this straight... Snape and Lupin are gay pedophiles... and Lupin's a necrophiliac."

"...Yeah..."

"Okay, just wanted to make sure I got that. Carry on."

"So I took some blackmail photos of them and then me and Vampire went to the concert where I ran into Draco. All three of us got into an argument but we got over it. The next day, the Ministry of Magic is trying to shut down the school, saying that Dumbledore needs to retire because of his Alzheimers."

"Oh dear, so what happened?" Jennifer asked, hoping to find a good place to stop so she can review her notes. If not she would have to stop Tara before she ran out room to write some more.

"Well, then Dumbledore charged me with the task of killing Voldemort and-"

"Ebony, do you mind if we stopped there? I've got about 10 pages of notes to read."

"Okay..." Tara responded, putting her headphones back in. Jennifer left feeling a mixture of fear, confusion and irritation. It seemed like everyday the sessions were getting more and more wilder then the last. Hopefully she'll find out more in the next session.


	4. Ghost of You

Jennifer returned the next day, still trying to process the information she had gathered the day before. Tara's fantasy world was either becoming more of a labyrinth or falling apart at the seams. Either way, breaking through the mental shield that was "Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way" would prove difficult. She entered the cell, where Tara sat in her usual trance.

"Ebony..."

Tara looked up once more.

"It's time for another session."

Tara nodded, continuing her tale while taking her headphones off. "During breakfast, Voldemort came into the Great Hall and told me to kill Vampire or else he'd kill us both and Draco."

"Oh dear... what happened then?"

"Well..." Tara trailed off, going back into her trance.

"Ebony? Ebony..."

Tara looked up "Who's Ebony?" she asked, a softness in her voice that Jennifer had never heard before.

"...Tara?"

"...No, my name is Ebony. Duh! Haven't you been paying attention?" Tara responded, returning to her normal tone of voice.

Jennifer quickly wrote down the progress. There was a crack in the wall, she had a chance to bring Tara back.

"Well, I had a vision and needed to talk with Professor Trelawney about them. She told me I'd know tomorrow. So me and Draco had sex. I fell asleep and..." she trailed off again.

"...Tara?"

"...Y-yes?" Tara asked, the softness returning.

"I'm Jennifer Willoughby. It's nice to meet you."

"...I knew that! You think I'm stupid?" Tara shouted. Ebony was back.

"So what happened?" Jennifer asked, trying to get Tara's mind off of that minor insult. She had learn from her second session not to anger her.

"Another vision. Lucius Malfoy and Sirius Black were being shot at. We sent people out to find them and they were brought in on stretchers. They survived and Trelawney gave me a Time Turner. She wanted me to go back to the 80s to make it so Voldemort didn't have his heart broken and become evil."

"...I see. So this must be how you'd "kill" Voldemort, as it were."

"Yeah. Me and Draco had sex but were interrupted by Snape and McGonagall."

"...You know, you two really should've found a better place to have sex. Somewhere off school grounds, so teachers wouldn't interrupt," Jennifer observed.

"...Right... so we were taken to the dungeon with Vampire, though I tried to fight back. I... used the Cruciatus Curse... no... please... I'm sorry Mr. Mulciber! I'll scrub the floors extra hard! Just please.. don't put me back in the chair! Please! No! NO!"

Tara began screaming, ripping her hair out, as tears ran down her face like a faucet. Her screaming caused other patients within the Ward to start screaming. Jennifer desperately tried to calm her down, worried that Tara might hurt herself during this.

"Tara! Calm down! I'm here... please calm down... please..."

However, nothing seemed to reach her. Jennifer unlocked the cell, opening it as quickly as she shut it. Tara leapt at her soon after that; screaming bloody murder as her jagged fingernails dug into Jennifer's arms. Jennifer fought through the pain, reaching down to grab the headphones and turning on the CD player. As her arms bled, she got the headphones on Tara, whose screaming halted.

The sounds of "Welcome to the Black Parade" had soothed Tara as she let Jennifer go. Jennifer bolted out of the cell, shutting it and locking it tight. Tara returned to her trance, sitting on the floor as she always was when the sessions began and ended. While Jennifer left for the day, needing medical treatment for her wounds.


	5. Welcome the Black Parade

Jennifer entered the next day, her arms healed from the previous session. The new session began as many did, Jennifer awakening Tara from her trance to talk.

"So what happened after the torture."

"Well... Snape gave me a knife and told me to kill Vampire or he would rape Draco..."

"Oh dear... then what happened?"

"Well, I refused and Snape had his pants off, but I hit him with... with the Cruciatus Curse... no... no..."

Jennifer cleared her throat, trying to remember the lyrics properly "When I was... a young boy... my father took me into the city... to see a marching band..."

The familiar lyrics hit Tara's ears and stopped the panic attack before she began screaming. Proving that Jennifer had indeed sung the correct lyrics. Which she mentally sighed in relief.

"So... what happened then, Ebony?"

"Well, Snape was held up in chains in the dungeon while I was sent back in time to seduce Tom Riddle. I learned how different the 80s were."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, like how Hogsmeade used to be Hogsment and how Hot Topic was known as Hot Issue," Tara explained with her examples.

Jennifer knew that neither of these were even close to being true, but since Tara had believed that Tom Riddle went to Hogwarts in the 1980s, she wasn't going to split hairs.

"I soon landed back in the present and found out that Professor Trelawney had Veritaserum addiction. Is she here, by the way?" Tara asked.

"Huh? Oh, no. She's clean and sober." Jennifer lied. Tara smiled a genuine smile, hearing that her favorite teacher had defeated her personal demons.

"Well, then me and Draco had sex and-"

"Let me guess, someone interrupted."

"Actually, no."

"...Oh. Sorry, carry on."

"Well, I jumped back into the Pensieve. Me and Riddle went on a date. To the Exorcist and a Marilyn Manson concert."

"Sounds like fun."

"Yeah, but before that I met Riddle's friends who had a band, XBlackXTearX. They were doing back-up for Marilyn Manson."

"I see..."

"Yeah, Lucius was lead guitar, Snape on base, James Potter on keyboard and Sirius on drums."

"Was Riddle the lead singer?"

"No, they had a lead singer who committed suicide, but I tried out and got the part. Then Marty McFly showed up with a time machine."

"...Right, he must've been there to offer a more convenient way to travel through time."

"Mhm. Then... well, I'm not sure what happens afterwards... I think it's because Cedric had spiked my blood with amnesia potion."

"Well, what can you remember?"

"I was on the date with Riddle, and tried to spike his cigar with it; but since amnesia potion hadn't been invented yet, it didn't work. So we just started having sex in the theater. Some bitch told us to leave, but I killed her and drank her blood."

Jennifer quickly wrote this down, Tara's fantasy was becoming more aggressive. Usually it was just threats of violence or the odd Cruciatus Curse. She was now entering full-blown murder at this point. A little unnerving to say the least.

"During the concert, Lucius screwed up and James flipped his shit; he was attempting to shoot Lucius's arm off but I jumped in front of the bullet."

"And then what?"

"..."

"Ebony? You there?"

Tara returned to her trance, ending the session for Jennifer instead of her ending it. As Jennifer walked off, she was unsure if Tara was getting better or worse.


	6. I'm Not Okay (Trust Me)

Jennifer stepped in the next day, expecting the usual beginning to the session. "Ebony?"

Tara looked up at Jennifer. "Tara..."

"Beg pardon?" Jennifer blinked.

"My name is Tara Gilesbie. When I was a little girl, my mom and uncle always told me stories about the Death Eaters. I always thought it was some silly ghost story they'd tell British kids to get them to behave. Like the boogeyman. Me and my friend Britney would always play games based on the Death Eaters. I'd be the Death Eater every time because of my pale skin and ebony black hair. My mom would catch me and yell at me for it. But I never understood why. I thought it was just a story..."

Jennifer quickly started writing as much as she could. The wall had been smashed and Tara was speaking to her directly. It seemed that Tara knew what Jennifer wanted to know. And therefor was telling her this without Jennifer needing to ask about it.

"I remember the day when they came. I was waiting for my letter from Salem Witches Academy. Just like I did every day since I heard about the school. My mom told me to get back inside, but I told her it was just some passing clouds. I was wrong. They came in on broomsticks, snatching me up and taking me to this place... where they had a bunch of children... it was disgusting. The floors were always dirty and no matter what time it was, there were kids cleaning it. They had a list of rules that could cover this whole room."

"And if any were broken?"

"You'd be sent to the Chair... Mr. Mulciber had a room with a chair... he'd lock you in the chair and would use the Cruciatus Curse on you and would only let you go after he felt you had learned your lesson. I found myself there every day, three times a day because I'd break at least three rules a day. I didn't want to keep breaking the rules... I wanted to be a good student for Mr. Mulciber. But I kept screwing up."

Tara started crying, holding her legs close to her chest for comfort. "When the school shut down, I found myself here... Ms. Strout tried to help me. My family and friends back in America tried to help me too... but the only friend I had in here was Ebony. Ebony and I had so much in common. We both knew what it was like to be made fun of for being different. She introduced me to bands like My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte and Evanescence. She taught me how to cut myself to make the pain go away. She helped me dye my hair with red streaks and purple tips. She told me all about her time at Hogwarts. All her friends. Willow, Draco, Vampire, B'loody Mary, Dracola, Diabolo, Darkness."

"You wished you could've been there."

"I wished I could've been Ebony. To be loved by so many men... to have all my enemies get hurt or die... to be away from all my supposed friends who all ran from me. Who all left me. Ebony never left. Never ran."

"So you started to become Ebony."

"Mhm. Her life was so much better. Things went her way no matter what. She was gonna be an Auror after graduation. Then she died..."

"Oh... I'm so sorry, Tara."

Tara smiled a bit. "It's okay... she visited as a ghost and told me that she'd let me live her life forever. I agreed and she went into my body. She took over my body... and life was good. I was happy and didn't need to worry about the outside world... about Mr. Mulciber coming back. But then you and Ebony talked and I started remembering... and I wanted to break free. I started to realize just how awful Ebony's life really was and wanted to escape. But Ebony and I fought over it... she doesn't want to leave. She wants my body... please, Jennifer. Don't let Ebony take over... help me..."

Jennifer reached out to Tara with her left hand and Tara took it, smiling. "I won't let her, Tara. I promise."

After a few hours of talk and note taking, Jennifer had to leave. It was getting late as well. "It was nice to have finally met you for real, Tara. I'm gonna take a few days off to see about getting you to meet with your old friend, Britney,"

"Okay, Jen. See you soon!"

"Goodbye!" Jennifer said, waving goodbye to Tara, who waved back to her.

Now alone again, Tara sat in the center looking at the headphones. _Go on, you need them..._

"No. I don't need them. Jennifer's been helping me get better."

_She's not helping you. She's turning you into one them. Into a prep. Into a part of their system._

"And it's better to part of your system?"

_I've been your friend for years. You're gonna let some bitch who's been your friend for less than a week control your life?_

"Sh-shut up! I don't wanna talk to you anymore, Ebony!"

_Listen, you stupid poser!_

"Don't call me that!"

_It's all you are is a poser!_

"I am not a poser!"

_Then pick up those headphones!_

"NO!"

_Then I'll do it for you!_

Tara tried to fight it, digging her fingernails deep into her own arms and cutting the skin. She didn't want to go back to being Ebony, she wanted to get better. So she struggled and fought hard. However, Ebony gained control and she put on the headphones, returning to her trance.

A few days later, Jennifer stepped off the lift with a blonde-haired woman in Salem Witches Academy robes following her. Underneath the robe was an old worn Christina Aguilera t-shirt she was wearing.

"Thank you for managing to visit, Britney."

The woman, Britney, smiled back the healer. "You're welcome, Jennifer. I'm just glad to know that Tara's back. I haven't been able to see her in years. I remember all the fun we had, playing Death Eater... then that day came... I remember how I should've been taken... Tara helped me on the train to where I was kept safe... I could've been her..."

Jennifer put an arm on Britney's shoulder. "Look, I'll let you two have a few minutes to catch up, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Jennifer."

"No problem. I need time to look over the notes Strout took while I was busy."

Britney nodded and walked in, shutting the door. Jennifer flipped through the notes. Jennifer was distressed to see that Tara had receded back into Ebony, but read on. "Ebony survived the bullet due to time paradox. Teen drama... things getting more hazy... time travel... Hedwig and Voldemort dated... a mental image that will haunt my dreams... it's practically turning into her own language at this point... she attacks... Britney... with the Cruciatus Curse..."

Jenifer dropped the notes, realizing what's going to happen, and runs into the room. Britney, by this time, was trying to reason with Tara; who was screaming and yelling at the "prep."

"You fucking bitch!"

"Tara, please... it's me... your friend..."pleaded Britney, trying to speak with her friend for the first time in years and having it fail as well.

Tara quickness allowed her to swipe the wand from Britney's cloak. "Crucio!"

Britney screamed in pain while Tara screamed in rage. Proving to anyone who saw this that Tara meant harm to Britney. Jennifer tried to stop her once she had gotten there. Although Tara wasn't having any of that.

"Tara, please! Don't be like Mr. Mulciber! Don't-"

"Fuck you, prep!"

As Britney convulsed on the floor, screaming her lungs off, Jennifer pulled out her wand. She was on the verge of tears. But she was going keep Tara's promise of helping her, although not in the way that she was originally planning to do.

"I'm sorry, Tara... Avada Kedavra!"

The screaming soon halted as the wand hit the floor. Britney ran off in fear as Tara's body went limp after the usage of an unforgivable curse. The screams caused a commotion in the ward, which Ms. Strout tried to control. Jennifer opened the cell, looking at the fallen body of Tara Gilesbie; she shed some tears for the fallen girl. A girl who had saved her friend, survived torture from a Death Eater and was able to free herself from Ebony for a bit of time. Received a dark reward for all of that. Her own death.

She then heard the sound of "Welcome to the Black Parade" playing through the enchanted headphones. That song she knew the lyrics to seemed to now call out to her. So, Jennifer sat on the floor, putting on the headphones and entered a trance.


End file.
